Barrel rack



Jan. 7, 1958 J, (3. 051 2,818,978

BARREL RACK Filed March 1, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 II I Jack 6. Pas! INVENTOR.

Jan. 7, 1958 J, C,'POST 2,818,978

BARREL RACK Filed March 1, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L J8 M Jack CF05) INVENTOR.

United States Patent Q i RREL RACK Jack C. Post, Medina, Ohio Application March 1, 1954, Serial No. 413,011

3Claims. (Cl. 211-49) This invention relates to an improved barrel rack and more specifically provides a barrel rack for supporting a plurality of barrels on a lower track and an upper track and connecting the trackways with a U-shaped track and providing the U-shaped track with a hydraulic lowering member for easily lowering the barrel from the upper level to the lower level thereby preventing the usual damage to the barrels and permitting. the oldest drum or barrel of ingredients to be released first for proper sequential use.

An object of this invention is to provide a barrel rack having vertically spaced inclined trackways with an interconnecting pair of trackways at one end for transfering barrels from the upper trackway to the lower trackway and providing the lower trackway with a discharge gate and the upper trackway with an entrance gate and the U-shaped connecting track with a hydraulic lowering means for safely lowering the barrels from the upper trackway to the lower trackway.

Another object of this invention is to provide a barrel rack having a mechanical discharge gate wherein a single barrel may be released while the remainder of the barrels are retained in the barrel rack,

Still another object of this invention is to provide a barrel rack having a pair of vertically spacedtrackways that are inclined in order to feed the barrels to a discharge gate and providing means for easily and slowly lowering the barrels from the upper track to the lower track wherein the barrels will not come into violent contact with one another.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a barrel rack which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, well adapted for its purposes, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture andmaintain.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout-and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the barrel rack of the present invention with portions thereof being in section;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the barrel rack of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken substantially along a plane passed through the vertical center line of the barrel rack of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is. a vertical section taken substantially along section line 4-4 of Figure 3 showing the detailsof the interconnecting trackways;

Figure 5 is a detailed section taken substantially along section line :S-5 of Figure 3 showing the details of: the discharge gate;

Figure 6 is a detailed perspective showing the discharge gate of the present invention; and

Figure 7 is a detailed section taken substantially along section line 7-7 of Figure 6 showing the details of construction of the discharge gate.

2,818,978 "Patented Jan. .7, 195.8

ICE

Referring now specifically to the drawings, it will be seen that the numeral 10 generally vdesignates the barrel rack of. the present invention for supporting a, plurality of barrels indicated by the numeral 12. The. barrel rack 10 includes .an upper tra ckway 14 and a lower trackway 16 having a width equal tot-he length of bar.- rels 12 Center members 18 form a .pQIt-ion of .theupper track 14 and the lower track 16 thereby providing support for the barrels 12. It will. be seen that the center members 18 of the upper track .14 and the lower; {track 16 are sloped or sligh ly in lined in opposite. directions. Vertical angle iron members 20 support the. upper. trackway 14 in spaced. relation tothe lower. trackway. 16. and extend beyond the lower trackway. 16; and support the barrel rack 10 on a suitable supporting surface, relatiye to whi h h ra kways 14 nd 1.6 are inclined- Cross members 21' extend between. vertical; members 20: and underlie and support members. 18,

Connecting the lowermost end of the upper ,trackway to the uppermost end of the lower traclcway 1 61s. a P onn t g frame or track indicated. by the numeral 22. Each of the trackways 14 and 162118 provided with guide rails 24. and. the interconnecting frame 22 is provided with a U-shaped guide rail. 26 which interconnects thi guide, rails 24 and a. pair of outer U-shaped members 27, which forms. a trackway for guiding the barrels 12 from the upper trackway 14 to the lower trackway 16 with the. Outer urshaped members formi g. w inuations of lower centralmembcrs 1.8.

it l r s 28. connec the outer members to t gu a hereby providing a rigid. struc ure'and a suitable angle brace 30 is providedbetween the. rear most vertical members 20, It:willbeseenthatithelowep mo track 16 and he uppermost track 1 erminate at the rearmost vertical member 20am.thepU-shapedwmema r 27 f r a continuation of thelowermost track 16 upwardly and terminate, ver ically. above. the upper track 14 thereby receiving the barrels 12 between. the rearmost end of the upper track 14 and the upper end of the U-shaped track 22. i

A pl em 32 i hinge ly onnectedt othe rear mostvertical member 20 by asuitable pivotv pin 34. and includes a link member 36. rigid therewith and; extending on the opposite side of the pivot. Pin.34.

The plate 32 extends outwardly intotthe. space bounded by members 27 and has a tap red end. portion. as. indi cated by the numeral fi whichengagesnthe barrel: 12 for a purpose described hereinafter. A hydraulic; cylinder 40 is pivotally attached to the endof the link and a piston rod 42 is pivotally attached to the uPPerend of the rearmost vertical member 20 by. apivot pini44.

A tension coil spring 48 is attached to. the link 36 adjacent its midpprtion and secured to the vertical member 20 adjacent its lower end for returning the plate 32 to a substantially horizontal position.

Adjacent the forward or the upper end of the upper; trackway 14 is provided a gate member 5:0:hingedat its lower end 52 to the front of the forwardmost vertical m r 0 and a c in or other. s itable flexible member indicated by the numeral 5,4.is utilized: for retainingthe gate 50 cl e position. The hai 54 ispositioned-in a able slot in he vertical-member Zllretaining-the a i ed position whendesired. I

Adjacent the front or. lowermostiend, of thelowertraek 16 is provided a dispensing mechanism indicated by the niuneral 56 and including a pair of. arcuateplates 58Ql1ivotally attached on the upper surface of the guide rai1124 by u able piv pin 60 P s ing: thro gh. a. pivot 1 g" 62.

vA r 6418 positioned between. the. plates 58 djacent one corner thereof and a bar 66 is positioned between. the plates 58 at the other corner thereby forming a device that will engage a barrel 12 when the plates 58 are in the position substantially shown in Figure 2. A tension coil spring 68 interconnects the plates 58 and the front vertical member for retaining the plates 58 in a position with the bar 64 in uppermost position. An apertured lug 70 is provided on the outer surface of one of the plates 58 and an elongated handle 72 is slidably positioned in the apertured lug 70 for manipulation of the dispensing mechanism 56. In the position shown in Figure 2, the bar 66 engages a barrel 12 adjacent the front portion thereof and the handle 72 positioned in the vertical member 20 prevents movement of the dispensing mechanism 56 and thereby secures the barrel in the barrel rack 10.

When it is desired to release a single barrel 12, the handle 72 may be moved upwardly so that pressure is placed on the upper end of the handle 72 thereby pivoting the plates 58 about the pivotpins 60. This moves the dispensing mechanism 56 substantially to a position shown in Figure 3 wherein the bar 64 engages the barrel 12 to the rear of the front barrel thereby preventing the next barrel from rolling out of the barrel rack 10. After the first barrel 12 has rolled from the rack 10, the spring urges the dispensing mechanism 56 back to its original position wherein the second barrel in the rack may move down to engage the horizontal bar 66. As long as the handle 72 is in its forward position as substantially shown in Figure 2, the dispensing mechanism 56 can not be accidentally raised thereby permitting a barrel to roll out when undesired.

The operation of the device will be readily understood. Assuming that the barrel rack 10 is empty, the gate 59 is lowered to an open position and the barrels 12 are lowered onto the rack from a suitable truck or other vehicle and due to the incline of the upper track 14 the barrels 12 will roll rearwardly onto the swinging plate 32 wherein the hydraulic cylinder will lower the barrel easily and safely to the lower track 16. Due to the downward incline of the lower track 16, the first barrel will roll to the forward end of the rack 10 and engage the horizontal bar 66 of the dispensing mechanism 56.

When the barrel reaches the rearmost end of the lower track 16, the plate 32 is disengaged therefrom and returns to a horizontal position for repeating the process of lowering the next adjacent barrels. This prevents the barrels from rolling rapidly from the upper track 14 to the lower track 16 and the resultant damage and leakage caused by the barrels banging into each other.

It will be understood that the plate 32 will be retained in substantially vertical position as long as the barrel rack 10 is completely filled with barrels, as the barrels will rest continuously against each other when they proceed from the upper track 14 to the lower track 16. As previously described, a single barrel may be dispensed from the barrel rack 10. Obviously, any suitable material may be utilized in construction of the barrel rack 10 of the present invention and the particular size of the device is optional as to its length and width.

The device is especially useful in storage and provides a very safe device for handling barrels and completely eliminating much lifting and mashed fingers or feet as is prevalent in places that store great quantities of barrels.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling with-in the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A barrel rack comprising a framework forming a pair of vertically spaced trackways being elongated and provided with guide rails for engaging a barrel, a U-shaped frame interconnecting adjacent ends of said trackways and forming a continuation thereof, said trackways being slightly inclined to facilitate rolling movement of the barrels, means for lowering the barrels from the upper trackway to the lower trackway, and means for sequentially discharging a single barrel from the lower trackway, said discharge means including a pair of right angular plates pivotally mounted at one corner to the guide rails adjacent the lowermost end of the lower trackwa a pair of rods interconnecting said plates and secured to the remote corners thereof, a handle for pivoting the plates about a horizontal axis, and spring means returning said plates to a normal position against the upper surface of the guide rails, the forward rod normally lying in the path of movement of a barrel and the rearward rod normally spaced above the path of movement, said rearward rod moving downwardly into the path of movement of the next adjacent barrel and the forward rod raising out of the path of movement of the forwardmost barrel when the plates are pivoted rearwardly thereby permitting the discharge of a single barrel.

2. A rack for cylindrical objects comprising a supporting framework, vertically spaced trackways on said framework, each of said trackways being elongated for rollingly supporting a plurality of cylindrical objects, a U-shaped member connected to one end of the lower trackway and forming a continuation thereof, said U-shaped frame hav ing a free end disposed vertically above the adjacent end of the upper trackway for guiding the objects from the upper trackway to the lower trackway, the vertical distance between the adjacent end of the upper trackway and the upper end of the U-shaped frame being substantially equal to the diameter of the objects for receiving the objects, said upper trackway being inclined downwards towards the U-shaped frame, said lower trackway being inclined downwardly away from the U-shaped frame to facilitate rolling movement of the upper trackway for lowering a single object from the upper trackway to the lower trackway, and means on the lower end of the lower trackway for discharging single objects therefrom, said discharge means including a pair of right angular plates pivotally mounted at one corner to the guide rails adjacent the lowermost end of the lower trackway, a pair of rods interconnecting said plates and secured to the remote corners thereof, a handle for pivoting the plates about a horizontal axis, and spring means returning said plates to a normal position against the upper surface of the guide rails, the forward rod normally lying in the path of movement of an object and the rearward rod normally spaced above the path of movement, said rearward rod moving downwardly into the path of movement of the next adjacent object and the forward rod raising out of the path of movement of the forwardmost object when the plates are pivoted rearwardly thereby permitting the discharge of a single object.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said lowering means includes a vertically swinging member normally positioned horizontally as an extension of the upper trackway and a cylinder and piston mechanism for regulating the movement of the swinging member thereby slowly lowering barrels successively positioned on said swinging member to the lower trackway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 476,924 Hudgens June 14, 1892 562,280 Carr June 16, 1896 1,749,843 Roark Mar. 11, 1930 1,969,594 Dietrich Aug. 4, 1934 2,115,647 Ross Apr. 26, 1938 2,442,025 Smith May 25, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 798,899 France Mar. 11, 1936 

